While reflecting on a New York Times article about Nevada brothels Michelle Cottle of The Plank says

...here’s the line that caught my eye: “There are about 225 women licensed by the state as prostitutes; no county allows brothels to have men who sell sexual services.”

Hmmm. Can this really be? If so, is it simply that no one has ever pushed for such a license, or do local Nevada lawmakers have an unspoken policy against men turning tricks?

Read the quote in context here.

She does a little digging and it looks as though the only attempt to branch out into male prostitution, an effort by Heidi Fleiss to open a brothel for women, got tripped up in a routine bribery scandal that evidently had nothing to do with either her or prostitution.

Cottle speculates

Some people chalk up the disparity to economics: What self-respecting woman would ever pay for sex when there are so many perpetually horny men to be had for free? But this question seems based on a market-model as misguided as the idea that Playgirl magazine was consumed by women. Even if you don’t think the gals will pony up for a casual shag, what about a high-end stud farm for gay men? Confident, well-adjusted, hot gay men might not consider paying to have their kinkier desires indulged, but what about shy, nerdy, awkward, homely, or semi-closeted types who long to be treated like a king for a few hours by some strapping young god?

My assumption is that the politics of the business are simply too fraught. Allowing women to rent their bodies to lonely, sweaty pervs with naughty-nun fantasies is one thing; giving the legal nod to man-on-man sexcapades is too hot even for Nevada. For an industry already concerned that its right to exist will be reversed by uneasy legislators, the pressure not to rock the boat must be intense. 

Still, I smell discrimination—not to mention a lost business opportunity.

To be honest I’m not as sure as Cottle that out of a national market there wouldn’t be enough women clients to support a single male brothel, but it certainly makes sense that there’s an adequate market for brothels that catered to gay men. I am confident that she’s right about Nevada, with all it’s bravado about relaxed mores and “what happens in Vegas,” being far too “traditional conservative” to upset the “natural order of things” where men are men and women are property.